HOW AN ITALIAN SME CAN RECOVER RARE EARTHS FROM E-WASTE
18° T.A.C.E.C. Workshop – Milan, 20/11/2013
RELIGHT •
1999: Relig h t w as b o r n f r o m a p r o ject in co llab o r at io n w it h Philips f o r t h e co llect io n an d r ecyclin g o f f lu o r escen t lam p s in w h o le it alian t er r it o r y
Treat m ent and recovery Rho: Via Lainat e 98/ 100 Tr eat m en t cap acit y: 40.000 t on/ year Ar ea: 11.000 sm
Collect ion and t ransport
18° T.A.C.E.C. Workshop – Milan, 20/11/2013
-
Fleet : 8 t rucks, 4 t railers
-
Ap p r o p r iat e collect ion and st orage equipm ent
ACTIVITIES – Cat hod Ray Tube equipm ent s Treat m ent Glass ref ining plant
Reclamation of Gallium, Indium and Rare-Earth Elements from Photovoltaics, Solid-State Lighting and Electronics Waste
2 pilot plant s as goal of t he project • •
One for Gallium and Indium One for Yt t rium and Europium
Project st art ed in January 2012: w ork in progress!! 18° T.A.C.E.C. Workshop – Milan, 20/11/2013
PROJECT 2 - HYDROWEEE
Develo p m en t o f in n o vat ive p r o cesses f o r t h e recovery of rare and precious
Ended - 2012
m et als f rom WEEEs
2 in d u st r ial, r eal-lif e d em o n st r at io n p lan t s - 1 st at ionary in Relight ’s f acilit y - 1 m o b ile
DEMO 18° T.A.C.E.C. Workshop – Milan, 20/11/2013
St art ed in 2012
HydroWEEE Pilot phase (ended 2012) Develo p m en t o f in n o vat ive p r o cesses f o r t h e
recovery of rare and precious m et als f rom WEEEs
GOAL Developm ent
of
a
pilot
plant
f or
t he
recovery of : •
RE f r o m f lu o r escen t lam p s an d CRTs
•
Indium f r o m LCDs
•
Cobalt an d Lit hium f r o m Li-io n b at t er ies
•
Gold an d ot her precious m et als f r o m PCBs
18° T.A.C.E.C. Workshop – Milan, 20/11/2013
HydroWEEE DEMO phase (in progress) GOALS •
18° T.A.C.E.C. Workshop – Milan, 20/11/2013
Desig n o f
indust rial scale plant s (1 st at ionary in
Relight
an d 1 m o b ile)
•
Assess an d o p t im ize ch em ical p r o cesses o f Hyd r o WEEE
•
Pr o d u ct io n o f a Rare Eart hs Oxalat e Mix
HydroWEEE Partners SMEs: •
EcoRecycling (IT)
•
Greentronics (RO)
•
Relight (IT)
•
SETrade (RS)
R&D Institutes: •
Institute Mihailo Pupin (RS)
•
HTR=UNIROMA+UNIVAQ+UNIVPM (IT)
•
SAT (AT)
18° T.A.C.E.C. Workshop – Milan, 20/11/2013
HydroWEEE Objectives HYDROWEEE – PILOT PHASE (2009-2012) Development of the hydrometallurgical processes for the recovery of base, precious metals and rare earths from WEEE.
HYDROWEEE – DEMO PHASE (2012-2016) • •
Realization of two industrial demostration plants (mobile and STATIONARY) Process sustainability assessment Optimization of the processes developed during the first part of the project (i.e. Include the treatments of waste and wastewater)
The projects will give an impulse t o European com pet it iveness, by applying innovat ive processes f or t he recovery of im port ant resources for the economy and technological developments. 18° T.A.C.E.C. Workshop – Milan, 20/11/2013
HydroWEEE Laboratory scale
Industrial scale Pilot plant scale
HydroWEEE Lamps powders INPUT POWDERS Average cont ent of RE • 8.12% Y • 0.64% Eu • 0.26% Tb • 0.60% Ce • 0.57% La Average cont ent of ot her elem ent s • 9% Si • 13% Ca Pr o cess in clu d es t h e t reat m ent of residual solut ion w it h lim e Th e t r eat ed so lu t io n s co u ld b e d isp o sed o r r eu sed in t h e p r o cess 18° T.A.C.E.C. Workshop – Milan, 20/11/2013
Hydrom et allurgical process f or LAMPS
HydroWEEE CRTs powders INPUT POWDERS Average cont ent of RE • •
